The Manifest Destiny of the Digital World
by Dream Cager
Summary: [Haitus] All 4 seasons of Digidestined are brought together and placed on a quest for the Digimon High Lords. Can they work together to achieve this goal, or will they fail and lose the Digidestined of Ages forever?
1. Chapter 1: Bridging the Gap

The Manifest Destiny of the Digital World  
  
* * *  
  
To all of the fans of the Digimon saga All the fans who wish it would go on.... forever  
  
* * *  
  
Cager: Finally! The time has come... for a fanfiction with characters from all 4 seasons of Digimon! Unfortunantly, I am a little new at Frontier, so if the characters say something a little out-of-character, just tell me. Just one more note from me: MURCURYMON IS A JERK! MUST BREAK MIRRORS! *yanks out extra large ACME mallet and begins to break every mirror in sight*  
  
Rastlin: *ignores Cager* This fanfiction takes place in the Digital World, years before the Digidestined were even chosen. Back when... all the Digital World had were prophesies.  
  
Tasslehoff: Cager does not own ANY characters of Digimon or any Kitties or me and Rastlin and Gilthanas. They are owned by bandai and toei, Ghost's Anime Kitties, and Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. She does own this plot and the Anti-Clones, of course.  
  
Sora Kitty: Please, read and remew!  
  
Antea: *growls* No one ever lets me give the disclaimers anymore! CAGER! YOU HAVE TOO MANY MUSES!!! GET RID OF SOME!  
  
Rastlin: I could get rid of YOU! *holds out his hands* Shetek mirahlo kizanai!  
  
Antea: Ahhhhh! He's gonna cast a spell on me! *runs off*  
  
Tas: Rastlin, I've never heard you use that spell before....  
  
Gilthanas: Who said it was a spell? ;) Hehehe....  
  
Chapter 1: Bridging the Gap  
  
A white cloth flew as it was caught by the wind....  
  
A block of gold shone through in the darkest hour....  
  
A small track faltered and a ship began to fall through the air....  
  
A train's whistle blared as it slowed to a stop....  
  
* * *  
  
'Wh... where am I? What is this? Am I anywhere at all?' thought a young boy as he opened his soft brown eyes. He had to blink them rapidly to get them adjusted to the light around him, if you could call it light-- It was more like whiteness. He slowly began to uncurl himself from his ball-like position and stretch himself out. He felt a few vertabre pop and rubbed behind his head to get rid of the crick in his neck.  
  
"This place is weird...," he muttered, looking around at the vast white nothingness around him. He seemed to be suspended in the air but when he stretched down to get himself up-right (or at least what seemed up- right to him. He couldn't really tell since there was no visible sky or ground) he felt himself standing on what seemed to be some solid floor... or air. Whatever you wanted to call it.  
  
He reached up and rubbed his head, gently taking off the goggles that seemed to have tightened on him slightly. He sighed, re-adjusted his goggle-strap and then replaced them.  
  
"Maybe I'm dead... but if this is death, where's God? Or Lucifer? Or is this some type of purgatory?" he asked aloud. "Well, if I'm dead I won't be able to feel pain. If I just pinch myself I should-OUCH! Then, in that case, I'm not dead--BUT THEN WHERE AM I??!!"  
  
As if answering his question, eleven other figures began to appear through the thick, white air. Slowly, he was able to see their features. He could see five of them were human but the others were animal-like. Then he really began to recognize them!  
  
"Agumon! Matt! Sora!" yelled the boy, rushing over to his friends to shake them awake. "Wake up! Wake up!"  
  
"Whhhhhhhat is it, Tai?" asked the orange dinosaur looking animal with a yawn.  
  
"Where's the fire?" asked a girl with light brown hair as she began to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes. Her blue helmet fell over her eyes and mussed her hair.  
  
"We... we're in a weird place," answered Tai, not knowing exactly how to address the answer. "I don't remember being here before. I don't even remember falling alseep."  
  
"This is weird," said a boy with short, spike-y blonde hair. "It's all... white."  
  
"Sorta makes me think of us as floating in a big bowl of milk," stated a girl as she grabbed her pink cowgirl hat to make sure it hadn't fallen off. Her small, plant-like partner nodded in agreement.  
  
"It appears we've fallen into another dimension," said a short boy with reddish-brown hair.  
  
"But, the only thing I remember is we were fighting Piedmon and he threw a weird white blanket on us," gasped a tall boy with glasses. "Well, I guess we were more or less running away from Piedmon, instead of fighting him."  
  
"That's right!" exclaimed a pink bird Digimon. "We were battling Piedmon."  
  
"Piedmon? I was trying to reach all of you," said Mimi, settling herself down on the transparent 'floor' of air. She smiled and continued, "That was when a big flash of light came and then I was here! I guess I did reach you!"  
  
"Yeah, but where are we?" asked Tentomon.  
  
"Wait! Something's missing!" yelled Gomamon, looking around franticly. Something just wasn't right!  
  
"T.K. isn't here!" gasped Matt, realizing the flaw.  
  
"Neither is Kari or their Digimon," added Gabumon.  
  
"This isn't good! This isn't good!" cried Joe.  
  
"Kari!" yelled Tai as he looked around him but all he could see was a vast land of white. He cupped his hand to his mouth and shouted even louder. "KARIIIIIIIII!"  
  
"Calm down, Tai," said Sora, taking her friend by the arm. "She was with T.K. when I last saw them. They still have Patamon left... at least." Her words didn't sooth Tai as well as she would've hoped. He stopped yelling but he didn't suck it up like he usually did. His arms fell to his sides limply and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block the passage of tears. Tears never helped anything, he knew that, but he didn't want to think of Kari out there... without him.  
  
"Hey! Look at that!" shouted Izzy, pulling Tai out of his slight depression. Tai wiped his hand over his eyes and looked ahead just in time to see even more figures begin to take form.  
  
"Maybe it's Kari and T.K!" cheered Palmon, throwing up her leafy arms.  
  
"Did you hear that, Tai?" asked Agumon, pulling at his partner's T- shirt. "It just might be your sister."  
  
"But at the same time, it just might not be them," murmured Tai, trying not to get his hopes up, though secretly wishing it were true. When they finally became visible, it turned out it wasn't exactly the kids they were looking for. These kids were around their age, well, except for one little boy. Another boy was wearing really wacked-out clothes but two of the Digimon that were with them were familiar....  
  
"It's Gatomon and Patamon!" sang Gomamon, smiling up at the still unconsious floating figures.  
  
"Hmmm? Wha...," muttered Patamon opening one eye. He raised his head, looked around sleepily until his eyes came to rest on Gomamon.  
  
"Gomamon, please keep it down," moaned Patamon. "I'm trying to get some sleep."  
  
"Patamon, where's T.K?" asked Matt, taking a step closer to the familiar Digimon. Patamon turned towards Matt but didn't answer the question. Instead, he looked at him as if he was trying to remember who he was.  
  
"Hey, Matt, did you let your hair grow out or did you just get smaller?" asked Patamon, cocking an ear. Matt gave him a confused look and was about to ask him another question when the boy next to Patamon began to stir. He opened his light blue eyes a yawned. He sat up in the air and rubbed his eyes with one fist as he adjusted his Gilligan hat with the other. He blinked a few times then looked around at the other Digidestined. At first, he didn't say anything. He just sat there and stared.  
  
"Oooookay," muttered the boy after a moment's silence, "this is a bit odd."  
  
"Who are you?" asked Sora. The boy looked at her and smiled.  
  
"Well, I guess I could tell you but it's not like you don't know me already."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Joe. "We don't know you." The boy chuckled and pulled Patamon up into his arms.  
  
"I guess I should make the most of being crazy and tell you," he replied, still chuckling. "I'm T.K, just about 4 years ahead of you." The Digidestined exchanged glances in their confusion. He did look like T.K. a little bit but his voice didn't sound the same. The boy then looked around but his cheerful face fell into a look of horror when he saw another sleeping Digidestined.  
  
"Kari! Wake up, Kari!" yelled 'T.K.' as he tried to get to the unconsious girl next to the Gatomon. Tai's head snapped up to look at her but it wasn't Kari. At least, it wasn't the Kari he remembered. The 'T.K.' shook the 'Kari' until finally her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him.  
  
"Huh? T.K, what are you doing here?" she asked in a voice, remarkably similar to Kari's. "Where are we?" Gatomon yawned and stood up, only to fall back into Kari's lap sleepily.  
  
"Just... a few more... minutes," muttered Gatomon. "A cat... needs her beauty naps...."  
  
"I'm unsure, Kari," answered T.K. "But it seems as if we've stumbled into the past."  
  
"What do you--" started Kari but she gasped when she looked up at the other Digidestined. She sat there, looking around at the different faces but there was one Digidestined's face her eyes lingered on. She stood up on the white air and made her way to face her brother. She was now eye- level with him. Not an inch shorter, nor an inch taller.  
  
"Tai...," muttered Kari as she reached up to touch his face as if to make sure he was real.  
  
"Kari," gasped Tai but he pulled away from her when he felt her touch and began to yell. "NO! It's not you, I mean, you're not Kari! KARI'S A LITTLE GIRL!... She's just... a little girl...." Tai finally broke down and fell to his knees crying. He didn't like this new Kari. He missed the old Kari. The little Kari that depended on him. Not this older Kari. She couldn't be Kari.... she just couldn't be!  
  
"T.K," said Kari in a scared voice as she held the now wide-awake Gatomon in her arms, "I want to go home. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to get back to our own time!"  
  
"I don't like it either but I don't think we have a choice," replied T.K.  
  
"So... you're really... T.K?" asked Matt, rubbing his eyes to see if he was seeing correctly.  
  
"Yep, that's me," answered T.K. but he didn't look cheerful like he had at first. He was now serious and yet,... looked so much like the younger T.K. used to....  
  
"Look! It's Davis!" gasped Patamon, drawing their attention back to the other unconsious bodies. "And Yolie and Cody!"  
  
"Veemon, Armadillomon and Hawkmon, too!" cried Gatomon but then added rather nastily, "There's the Digimon Emperor and Wormmon, as well."  
  
"We'd better wake them up," sighed T.K. He then turned to the younger-forms of the older Digidestined and began to make orders. "Tai, you and Matt wake up the kid with the goggles and his blue beast Digimon. Sora and Mimi, you take the girl with the hawk. Joe, Izzy, take the smaller boy with the Armadillomon. Kari," T.K. gulped as he motioned to the kid with the odd clothes, "we'll get Ken and Wormmon."  
  
The other Digidestined nodded and complied with his orders. Maybe one of these other kids had the answer to their questions.  
  
"Oooooh! I feel like I just banged my head up against a moving semi- truck!" groaned the boy with the goggles that matched Tai's exactly.  
  
"Huh?" moaned the purple-haired girl as she looked up at the vaguely familiar faces. "Who are you? Aren't you... Sora? And Mimi?"  
  
"Cody, are you okay?" asked the Armadillomon as he reached his partner's side.  
  
"If you believe being disoriented and confused counts as okay, then yes," muttered Cody in a reply as he rubbed his head.  
  
"Mmmmm?" grunted Ken as his intense blue eyes opened slightly but as they caught sight of T.K. and Kari, they popped open faster than a speeding Thundermon. "What are YOU doing here?! Where am I?! What am I doing here?! What is this?! What have you done?!" He yanked himself from their grasp and stood up quickly while he pulled out a 10-inch bar of metal. He pushed a button on it with his thumb and a whip-like appendage shot out of one end.  
  
"Chill out, Ken!" yelled T.K. glaring at his enemy with deep hatred in his eyes. He moved to Wormmon and began to rouse the little Digimon as Kari tried to explain as much as she knew, which was not a lot. The 4 other Digidestined didn't believe it at all at first but then the boy with the goggles began to understand.  
  
"I guess when I found that golden Digi-Egg it blasted us here to this new dimension," muttered Davis, scratching around his goggles.  
  
"Yeah! I could feel myself being pulled toward it, Davis," agreed Veemon, who now sat in his partner's lap.  
  
"Then... do you think the blast knocked us 4 years into the past, too?" asked Cody.  
  
"Impossible!" snapped Ken getting their attention since he hadn't spoken a word since his first out-burst. "That was no 'Golden Digi-Egg'. Had it been that, I would've known long before I even used it to power my base."  
  
"What else could it have been?" asked Yolie. No one answered this question. It wasn't expected to be answered either. But then, Gabumon heard something odd.  
  
"What's that?" asked Gabumon aloud as he held up his paw for silence. Not even Mimi dared to speak, in fear of what might have caught Gabumon's ear.  
  
"It sounds... like someone yelling," muttered Gabumon and sure enough, they began to hear the shrill cry of a boy. It seemed to be coming from the direction they had dubbed 'up'. They turned their heads up to see a boy around their age speeding towards them. He seemed to be falling next to another body, but this one wasn't human. It was lizard-like and red with black stripes. Instead of screaming, this one was giggling with glee.  
  
The Digidestined half expected the boy to keep falling and half expected him to hit and splatter upon the transparent 'ground' but he did neither of these things. Instead, when it seemed he was getting closer he began to slow. He stopped yelling once his acceleration slowed to the speed of a falling feather. Soon, he was just inches above the 'ground' when he seemed to stop completely for a few seconds then dropped to the ground.  
  
"Ooof!" groaned the boy when he landed hard on his bottom on the unseen ground. The lizard-like creature moaned when it landed on its head next to him.  
  
"That was fun, Takato," groaned the Digimon, "except for the landing." It reached up and rubbed its head with its clawed paw as his Tamer caught his breath, having lost most of it yelling for his dear life. When he finally caught his breath, he looked up only to take in another gasp. Around him stood the characters for his favorite television show ever--DIGIMON ADVENTURE! Immediatly he was on his feet, his face flushed with embarassment at having the Digidestined see him act so childishly.  
  
"Whoa! I can't believe it!" gasped Takato as a big goofy smile spread across his face. "It's actually you! You're Tai! I can tell by the goggles! See, I got goggles, too. Can I touch you before I wake up from this totally cool dream?" Takato then stuck out his hand to touch Tai without waiting for an answer. Tai began to step backwards unsure if the kid trying to reach him was crazy or just flat-out psycho!  
  
"Hey! Get back!" demanded Agumon, stepping in front of his Digidestined partner. He shot Takato an untrusting look, unfortunantly, Guilmon didn't like that look.  
  
"Grrrr," growled Guilmon stepping up next to Takato, willing to defend his Tamer from anything, including this mean, orange Dinosaur Digimon. "PYRO SPH-" But before he could let loose his attack, Takato threw his arms around Guilmon's snout, clamping his jaws shut, forcing the fireball to slide back down his throat--not a pleasant experience.  
  
"Guilmon, don't attack!" shouted Takato, gripping Guilmon's snout firmly.  
  
"Buth Thatato-" muttered Guilmon trying to talk to his Tamer through the muzzle-like grip. Takato, still holding Guilmon's mouth shut, turned back the Digidestined with an apologizing smile.  
  
"Sorry, he's just a bit... young," chuckled Takato nervously. The Digidestined exchanged glances but their attention then fell onto the many other kids and Digimon that suddenly began to fall from the sky. This was getting weird, even for the Digital World! Kids and Digimon were falling out of the sky like cats and dogs!  
  
"Wh-where are we?" asked a boy in a soft, scared voice. He held a small pink Digimon in his hands firmly, but was gentle, trying not to damage it.  
  
"Oh, great, just what we needed," groaned a girl with her hair tied up in a high pony-tail. "Just when we were about to get home, we fall into another dimension. Pshaw! How typical."  
  
"Is it just me or do we have... THE MOST TERRIBLE LUCK IN THE UNIVERSE?!" demanded a boy with a Terriermon perched on his head.  
  
"Hey! Moumantai!" laughed his Terriermon cheerfully.  
  
"Jeri, are you alright?" asked a small white Digimon as its ears expanded. He seemed to be talking to a girl who had herself curled up in a little ball. She stroked a small dog-like sock puppet on her hand involuntarily.  
  
"Who cares?" muttered the girl quietly. "Leomon...." The first boy who had fallen released his grip from his Digimon's mouth and turned to the girl with sad eyes.  
  
"Jeri...," he muttered softly as he looked upon the girl with concern. He walked over to her and, believing there wasn't anyway to make the situation they were already in worse, he knelt down beside her and took her in his arms. The youngest one of the bunch, a girl with pig-tails, was the first to notice the Digidestined.  
  
"Oh! Hendwy! Hendwy!" cried the little girl, tugging at the Terriermon Tamer's shirt. "Lookie! Lookie! It's the Digidestined."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, that's great, Suzie," he muttered, looking up into the whiteness instead up where his sister was pointing. She didn't seem to notice he wasn't paying attention and she ran closer to the Digidestined, her partner not too far behind.  
  
"Look! I can't bewieve it's Izzy! And there's Kawi! She even has a Gatomon! Oh! And look, it's Mimi!" yelled Suzie, getting herself excited. "I can't bewieve it, it's really them!"  
  
"Suzie, what are you...," started Kazu but his voice faltered when he saw she was telling the truth. He looked at them with an awestruck look on his face.  
  
"What's so special about them, Kazu?" inquired his Guardromon, following his Tamer's gaze.  
  
"It's... it's them! It's really THEM!" yelled Kazu. He pointed at the Digidestined and smiled at his partner. "It's the Digidestined! THE REAL DIGIDESTINED!"  
  
"Of course, we're real Digidestined!" shouted Davis irritantly. The sound of his voice caught all the other Tamers' attention. All except for Jeri who was still preoccupied with her own sad thoughts.  
  
"Oh, yeah," said Takato looking up. "I nearly forgot about them."  
  
"Takato, how on earth could you possibly forget them?" demanded Kazu, stomping his foot. "They're the Digidestined, man! They're like, the most totally cool characters from the most totally cool television show!"  
  
"Big whoop," sighed Rika, unimpressed. "I really don't care who else is here, all I want is to go back home." A little purple Digimon in her arms stirred and opened his eyes. She looked down at him in pity but the others scowled.  
  
"And why did you bring him, Rika?" asked Kenta with a frown directed towards Impmon.  
  
"Why you mad?" asked MarineAngemon innocently looking up at his partner, confusion filling its eyes. Kenta looked down at his Digimon. Forgetting his hatred of Impmon in MarineAngemon's eyes, he smiled.  
  
"Oh, the poor Digimon," muttered Yolie, walking over to Rika to check on the hurt Impmon. "What happened to your partner?" Rika was caught off- guard with this question but quickly regained her composure.  
  
"He's not my partner," stated Rika flatly. A yellow, fox-like Digimon appeared next to her, startling Yolie.  
  
"I am Rika's partner," explained the Digimon. Yolie laughed nervously and backed away, feeling a bit intimidated by such a serious and frightening Digimon.  
  
"Alright," sighed Ken, pushing the button to have his whip contract back into its holder, "I've officially gone crazy."  
  
"We might as well all have gone crazy," said another boy with soft blue eyes. He had a serious face but his Digimon looked a bit like a silly purple lizard. "I've been here before.... It only happens... when I've been called to help in another dimension."  
  
"Another dimension?" asked Cody, cocking his eyebrow.  
  
"You never told us about being in another dimension!" complained Henry.  
  
"You never asked," was Ryo's answer.  
  
"How many dimensions have you been in, pray tell?" asked Rika in a mocking voice. Ryo sighed and rubbed his forehead.  
  
"Too many to count," murmured Ryo. "I've been... in their dimension before." He motioned to the Digidestined.  
  
"Now that has to be a bluff! I just know it," sniffed Rika.  
  
"Wait!" yelled Ken holding up his hand to get Ryo's attention. "I... I think I...." The child Emperor of the Digital World slowly began to make his way towards the Tamer.  
  
"That's right," said Ryo. "Ken and I used to travel the Digital World, when he was much younger...." Ken stood in front of Ryo, looking into his eyes but then scrunched up his face and began to tremble slightly.  
  
"Ryo...," muttered Ken through clenched teeth. It looked like Ken was about to cry but when Ryo was just about to reach out and touch his shoulder to comfort him, Ken's gloved hand shot out and smacked Ryo hard across the face! This shocked everybody, including Rika, but especially Ryo.  
  
Ryo stumbled back from the strength of the hit and reached up to rub the reddening spot on his cheek. Monodramon began to growl and was about to rear up and attack Ken but Ryo pushed him back.  
  
"You... you left me," growled the Digimon Emperor who was trembling, not with sadness but with anger. His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck involuntarily. "You left me there... to die! To die, all alone!" Ryo removed his palm from the stinging spot on his cheek and straightened himself back up to look Ken in the face.  
  
"I did no such thing, Ken," stated Ryo with an emotionless face.  
  
"Yeah, Ryo'd never do anything like that!" snapped Kazu, taking up for his idol. "Ryo never left us when we were in danger or hurt."  
  
"Shows how much you know about the true Ryo Akiyama," sneered Ken.  
  
"Who knows, Kazu? Maybe the only reason Ryo helped us out is because he had a guilty conscience?" suggested Rika in her snobby voice.  
  
"I don't need little girls sticking up for me, thank you," snapped Ken as he turned to Rika.  
  
"And I don't need goggle heads like you telling me what to do," retaliated Rika as she handed Impmon over to Renamon so she could step towards Ken to back her statement.  
  
"I'm guessing you don't know who I am. I'm-" started Ken taking a step but Rika cut him off.  
  
"-Ken 'The Rocket' Ichijouji. Kenny boy. The Digimon Emperor, self- proclaimed 'Ruler' of the Digital World," sniffed Rika in a mocking tone. She walked the rest of the way up to Ken and stared him straight in the eyes. "I know you're whole little charade, Ichijouji. I've seen you fight, gain victory and lose a million times on the television show. Yes, that's right! That's all you are--A cartoon character! I don't know about you, but I only go by things in my world--The REAL World. The place I call home and the place where I'm called the Digimon Queen."  
  
"You're only the Digimon Queen because Ryo wasn't there to beat you in the tournaments, Rika!" yelled Kazu.  
  
"So what? Ryo forfeit his title when he decided he was going to skip the champion chips and come play around with his little Digi-Pals in the Digital World." Kazu continued to comment and yell but Rika just rolled her eyes and shrugged him off. "Whatever, Kazu. It doesn't matter anymore! All that matters...," she then calmed down and took a deep breath. "All that matters is us getting out of this weirdo place and getting back home."  
  
"You know, she's right," said T.K. before Kazu or anyone else could comment. "All that matters is getting home and getting home now!"  
  
"But we can't!" yelled Ryo, slightly irritated. "Haven't you been listening to me? I NEVER get called here unless I have a job to do in another dimension! But... now that you're all here too, I guess... we're ALL going to a new dimension."  
  
"Whewy? Oh, boy!" shouted Suzie squeezing Lopmon. "Annoder twip!"  
  
"Oh... goody... ack!" chocked out Lopmon, trying to pry herself from her Tamer's grip.  
  
"Well, since we're going to be in another dimension together, I guess we'd better get to know each other," said Mimi smiling as if this was a natural thing. "Introduce us, Tai!"  
  
"I think they may already know who-" started Tai but the sound of a blaring whistle drowned out the rest of his sentence. They all looked in the direction of the whistle and were shocked to see a train heading straight for them! It wasn't any normal train they had ever seen before. It had eyes, a big gaping mouth and large teeth! Quickly, all the Digidestined, Tamers and their Digimon jumped out of the way just as the train flew by them but it gave a sudden jolt and stopped.  
  
A door slid open and six children poked their heads out to see where they had stopped. They seemed as confused as the Digidestined, Digimon and Tamers. Suddenly, four little hands reached out and pushed them all out of the train! They all groaned, sprawling on the ground in a huge clump.  
  
"Sorry, children!" said a small white Digimon with a pink band around its waist.  
  
"Yes, sorry," said a small Patamon with an identical pink band around its waist.  
  
"What's all this about!?" demanded a boy with goggles as he stood up.  
  
"You've been summoned by the Digimon High Lords," explained the white Bokomon. "When you are summoned the only thing you can do is come forth."  
  
"Digimon High Lords?" asked a boy with thick black hair and an odd black Digivice in his hand.  
  
"Yeah... so, uh, see ya!" replied a yellow kangaroo Digimon with red pants as he slammed the train door shut. The kids' jaws dropped as they watched the train begin to start up.  
  
"Huh? What the--STOP!" yelled a girl with long blonde hair as she began to run after the train.  
  
"Worm, you Trailmon! STOP RIGHT NOW!" yelled a heavyset boy, running along with her. A boy with long black hair tied back into a 3-inch ponytail began to gain on the slow moving but gradually speeding train. He reached out and touched the rail of the caboose but just as he felt the cold steel beneath his fingertips the train disappeared. Shocked and surprised, the boy fell headfirst onto the transparent ground.  
  
"Koji!" yelled the other black-haired boy as he reached the fallen boy's side. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Fine. I'm fine," muttered Koji as his brother helped him to his feet.  
  
"If only we had used the spirits!" groaned the goggled boy as he stomped his foot. "We might have been able to catch him!"  
  
"I don't like this place, Takuya," muttered the smallest of the newcomers. The goggle boy squatted down to be eye-to-eye with the smaller boy and smiled as he put a reassuring hand on the boy's over-sized hat.  
  
"It'll be alright," assured Takuya. "We've been in bigger messes than this."  
  
"Uh, Takuya?" muttered the heavyset boy, getting Takuya's attention. He pointed to the perplexed Digidestined and Tamers as he continued, "I think this may just be a bit bigger than it seems."  
  
"Uh... hi!" chuckled Davis, waving over to the new kids shyly, breaking the gap of silence that had settled over everyone. All the Digidestined, Tamers, and Digimon then laughed nervously, the tension easing with their giggles.  
  
"This is a very interesting situation," chuckled Izzy. "I would've never thought there were so many Digidestined."  
  
"Uh, we're known as Tamers," explained Henry with a slight smile.  
  
"This has got to be one of the strangest moments in Digital World History," chuckled the heavyset boy.  
  
"You said it," agreed Ryo with a smile. "I've been here so many times but I rarely get to travel with another human. It's nice to have people around for a change instead of just a Digimon--no offense meant, guys."  
  
"Haven't I... seen you before?" asked Tai, scratching his head a bit. "I could swear I've had dreams about you and this place before." Ryo nodded.  
  
"Yeah, we've traveled together before. You probably don't remember much because it's been erased from your memory. Lots of mine have been, but I remember some clear-as-day sometimes."  
  
"How do you know you've been here 'too many times to count', then?" asked Rika in a mocking voice.  
  
"Well, it works like this," explained Ryo with sigh. "Sometimes, memories are left un-tampered with but most of the time, the missions one is sent on are too confidential or secretive. If the Digidestined, or Tamer or whoever was sent, told anything or gave any hints, the whole Digital Time Line could be thrown off-balance. The Digimon High Lords can't have anyone ratting out their most important plans, so they wipe the entire experience from their minds, as well as anyone involved in it. It's for the Digital World's own good." He was silent for a few moments, letting this soak in before continuing. "But, sometimes, when I'm asleep... I can remember them. I can remember different battles I've been in, different missions--some completed, some... failed." Ryo shuttered.  
  
"What do you mean, 'failed?' " asked Henry, raising one eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah? How could you fail? You're the Ryo-man!" shouted Kazu, swinging his arms wildly.  
  
"I... I don't know what I mean," answered Ryo rubbing his forehead. Rika looked like she was about to say something smart but she stopped when she saw his pale, scared expression. "I just... I can remember fighting an evil Digimon or running from something and I... I just get slashed or shot or I fall or I sink into the water or I'm engulfed in flames and the next thing I know is... light. There's light everywhere. It's so bright, and it's soft but... it hurts at the same time. Then I die... or... do I just... wake up?" He shuttered again and closed his eyes. Monodramon looked up at him, his face creased with concern but when he reached up and touched Ryo he didn't get a response.  
  
"Well," started Takato, trying to steer the conversation into a different angle, "since we're all going to die together, we might as well learn each other's names."  
  
"That's right!" gasped Sora. "We don't know any of you!"  
  
"You might as well start off the introductions," said the girl with blonde hair shrugging.  
  
"Right then," said Tai, starting them off. "I'm Tai and this is my partner Agumon. With me are Matt with Gabumon, Sora with Biyomon, Joe with Gomamon, Izzy with Tentomon and Mimi with Palmon." He motioned to each of his friends as he introduced them.  
  
"My name's Davis and this is my pal, Veemon," spoke up Davis before any of the others could start in. "That's Yolie with Hawkmon, Cody with Armadillomon, Kari with Gatomon, T.K. with Patamon and... his Royal Jerkness Ken and his Wormmon."  
  
"That's Digimon Emperor to you!" snapped Ken with a growl. Davis just rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well, I'm Takato," chuckled Takato with a smile, "and this is Guilmon. These are my friends, Henry and Terriermon, Rika and Renamon, Kazu and Gaurdromon, Kenta and his MarineAngemon, Suzie and Lopmon, Ryo and Monodramon, and this is... uhh, Jeri." Takato held the girl in his arms but she hadn't seemed to have changed at all. She just... sulked.  
  
"You forgot about me, Takato," moaned the small white Digimon as it withdrew its ears.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Takato smiled again as he looked at small Digimon. "This is Culumon. He's not... your average Digimon." Rika cleared her throat loudly and pointed to the beaten, purple Digimon in Renamon's arms. Takato winced and cleared his throat. "That... that's Impmon."  
  
"My name is Takuya," said the last goggle boy with a smile. "My friends are Koji and his brother, Kouchi, Zoe, J.P, and Tommy. We're all Legend-"  
  
"Takuya!" snapped Zoe as she motioned for him to remain silent about their status. People didn't always seem to take-in the fact that they were Legendary Warriors very well.  
  
"Where are your partners?" asked Joe raising his eyebrows and apparently not noticing the interruption.  
  
"Um, well," muttered Takuya as his brows creased, "we don't really have any. Maybe you could say Bokomon and Neemon are our partners. Patamon, too."  
  
"I guess you could say we're all partners," suggested J.P, standing next to Takuya.  
  
"Yeah!" Takuya smiled. "We're all partners."  
  
"It's nice to meet all of you!" giggled Mimi as she clasped her hands together.  
  
"Ditto!" agreed Terriermon with a smile.  
  
"Well, now that the pleasantries are over I'd like to get back to making you all my slaves," said Ken in a no-nonsense tone of voice.  
  
"Well, isn't someone full of themselves today," sniffed Koji, not in the least bit amused. It was apparent to the rest of them these new kids didn't know anything about the Digimon Emperor.  
  
"You'll have to get used to him, I'm afraid," boomed a voice above them, making them all jump in surprise. They whirled around, trying to see who had addressed them but all they could see was a bright blue light above them.  
  
"Don't tell me that's who I think it is," groaned Kazu as his shoulders slumped.  
  
"If you think it's Azulongmon, yeah, that's who it is," muttered Terriermon as he jumped down from Henry's head.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you kids," said the disembodied voice of the Dragon Digimon Sovereign.  
  
"I thought you said we could go home!" complained Henry.  
  
"Who is this guy?" asked Zoe, blinking up at the blue light that began to take form.  
  
"I am Azulongmon," boomed the wisened voice of the Dragon. "I am one of the Great Digimon Sovereign or one of the Digimon High Lords. You may call us whatever you wish."  
  
"Just make sure it is an appropriate title," snapped the sharp voice of Zhuqiaomon the Pheonix as he emerged from a blast of red light.  
  
"Ah, don't mind him," grumbled the left head of the Turtle High Lord, appearing in green light.  
  
"Yea, he's just a big stick in the mud," agreed the second head of Ebonwumon.  
  
"Now is not the time to be picky about meager things such as titles, Zhuqiaomon," growled the large Tiger Sovereign powered by golden light.  
  
"As you have guessed, young Ryo, you have all been called to fulfill a quest," said Azulongmon. "This time, you will not travel to... a different dimension. It will be more like... traveling back into time."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Davis. "What's the purpose of this?"  
  
"It is to ensure the destiny of the Digital World, young one. You will be divided into four groups and the leaders of the groups will be given three Triangles of Power. One large, two small. You are to travel back into time and find and place the Triangles in the Temple of the Lord that empowers you. That is-"  
  
"Whoa! Stop there!" demanded Matt taking a step towards the giant Mega-level Digimon. "What do you mean by 'Lord that empowers you?' " Azulongmon looked at him and blinked a few times before answering.  
  
"Each Digidestined, Tamer and Legendary Warrior is empowered when under the influence of their own specific Lord. All you children have the influence of one of the Lords, whether you have a spirit that soars...."  
  
"... whether you have a longing to be true...," added Baihumon.  
  
"... whether your ambitions are fulfilled with passion...," continued Zhuqiaomon.  
  
"... or whether you have a secret personality hidden inside of you," ended Ebonwumon. They let this sink in for a few minutes since all of the kids seemed confused.  
  
"But... why don't... you just place the Triangles in the Temples?" asked Takato.  
  
"Yeah! I'm sure you could do it," added Guilmon smiling innocently.  
  
"Well, that is actually quite a long story," muttered Azulongmon, apparently not wanting to recall it but he knew he must, for the children's sakes. "You see, when we Sovereign were young, just new hatchlings, we were told of a prophesy by an old Digimon, even older than I (amazing as that may be). He told us of a Digidestined known as the 'Digidestined of Ages'. He is said to be the most powerful and true of all Digidestined and, of course, we were all excited about that news. A Digidestined stronger than any other isn't just an everyday occurance.  
  
"Each of us Lords, young as we were, decided we each wanted to be the one to have influence over him. This led to a debate, then an argument and before we knew it, it was an all-out war! Even though we were all young then, we were still all very powerful and each of us was a threat to the Digital World. The wise old Digimon who had told us the tale punished us for our selfish thoughts and pointless bickering.  
  
" 'If you cannot decide on which of you shall influence him, then you all must share the influence over him!' declared our teacher and he created the Triangles of Power. Our teacher explained to us that only when the Triangles were brought together and used as one could we influence our Digidestine of Ages and gain more power. Unfortunantly, they will not be able to be used until the Digidestined of Ages is born and we still have a few more years before that.  
  
"Our teacher said, 'When the appointed time comes, give the Triangles to the Digidestined, Tamers and Legendary Warriors to place in the Temples created for you. By touching the Triangles with their power, the children will be able to transmit some of themselves into the Digidestined of Ages. This can only be done at the Temples and by their hands.' I am sorry if you do not understand the ways of our teacher, we still do not understand all his ways. He does what he does for the benefit of the Digital World and for nothing else."  
  
"Is there anything else?" asked Cody, trying to piece the story together. "It sounds as if he's testing us or something."  
  
"Mmmm... in a way, young one," answered Ebonwumon. "Our Teacher also said that you must use the power of our influence at least once before (only once), or your power will not be transmitted into the Triangles. No part of yourself will be left to help the Digidestined of Ages if you don't (not one part)."  
  
"But how do we use the power?" asked Tommy nearly falling backwards as he looked up at the huge Digimon's eyes. Baihumon lowered his head so it would be easier for Tommy to look at him. Tommy gulped at the size of Baihumon's teeth.  
  
"The answer to that, young one, is inside of you," replied the Tiger, sounding much like a soft purr. "Also, Legendary Warriors, do NOT use your powers unless it is entirely necessary. You would not want to waste your strength on this journey."  
  
"Legendary Warriors... what does that mean?" asked Tai in confusion.  
  
"That, you will soon learn on your own. We do not have time to relay that to you," answered Azulongmon. "It would take far too much time and you all must soon start off."  
  
"Why are you sending me to do this?" asked Ken with a hint of irritation and with a look that said 'I have better things to do'. "Why not just send Ryo like you always have?" Zhuqiaomon then reared up and roared with anger, startling Ken.  
  
"You wish to deny me my share of the power over the Digidestined of Ages?!" demanded Zhuqiaomon, glaring down at the Digimon Emperor.  
  
"Please, he didn't mean that, your High Lordness, Mr. Zhuqiaomon, Sir," said Wormmon, sticking up for his apparently too-frightened-to-speak partner. Wormmon was also very afraid of the large Pheonix Digimon but he would do anything to protect Ken.  
  
"You should not snap at him, Zhuqiaomon," insisted Azulongmon, coming to the rescue. "He did not know all the Digidestined empowered by the Lord must give a piece of themselves to the Triangle for the Lord to gain their share of the power. Nor did he know you were the Lord who empowers him." Zhuqiaomon sniffed, apparently not very satisfied. Azulongmon then let out a long, loud sigh. A sigh of ages. His eyes closed. He shook his head and knew there was no changing him. Zhuqiaomon was angry and uncaring for a reason, to balance out Azulongmon's powers of love and understanding, just as Baihumon's wild strength balanced out Ebonwumon's peace and tranquility, and vise-versa. Now was not the time to fight, not the time to argue. Now... was the children' time to depart.  
  
"I am sorry, children," sighed Azulongmon. "I am afraid we can talk about it no longer, and... I'm afraid you do not have a choice in the matter." Then they were floating. Their feet seemed to slip from the transparent ground and they felt themselves being lifted up. Some of them began to float towards the blue light, some to the gold, some to the red, and some to the green.  
  
"What? No! Koji!" yelled Kouchi, watching his brother being pulled away from him towards the red glow.  
  
"Wheee! Wheee!" giggled Calamon as he gripped Takato's goggles. "This is fun!"  
  
"I don't want to be part of this! I demand you let me go!" yelled Ken, trying to get away from the red light that beckoned him.  
  
"Hold on to me tightly, Tommy!" ordered Takuya, taking the smaller boy in his arms.  
  
Impmon, beaten and bruised, suddenly became aware Renamon wasn't holding him anymore, but he didn't care. He felt terrible, like he just eaten a dozen stale creampuffs. Lazily, he let himself be pulled into the golden light.  
  
"No! JERI!" yelled Takato as she was ripped from his grasp. He didn't want to leave her! She couldn't take care of herself! She needed someone there with her! His eyes darted to the others drifting her direction and his eyes landed on Rika.  
  
"Rika! Take care of Jeri!" yelled Takato at the top of his lungs.  
  
"Okay, Takato!" shouted Rika as she reached out to grab Jeri by the arm.  
  
"SUZIE!" yelled Henry as he watched her being pulled towards Zhuqiaomon's red light.  
  
"HENDWY!" she cried, gripping Lopmon with all her might. Through tearful eyes, she watched as her brother was pulled farther and farther away from her.  
  
"Kari!" gasped Tai quietly as he watched the older incarnation of his sister float away from him. She cried out his name and looked into his eyes. By the look in her eyes, he knew right then, that she truly was the Kari he had remembered. She was still that little girl that looked up to him, even if she was his age. "KARIIIIIIII!"  
  
* * *  
  
Tai felt something pressed into his hands as he was showered in a bright sky blue....  
  
Davis tingled with a light sensation as his fingers wrapped around something flat and everything went red....  
  
Takato was flushed with a cool chill as something was pressed upon him and he lost all sight in a light green....  
  
Takuya held little hands as three triangle shards entered his D- Tector and gold filled his eyes until they hurt....  
  
To be continued....  
  
Cager: Hey, ya'll! ^_^ So, how was this first chapter? I think I made it a bit too long and dragging. I guess I could've done better.... Oh! And I just want you to know I am using the Digidestined of Ages in another one of my fanfics already. He or She will not be named in either this fic or the other. He or She will only be acknowledged as a Digidestined but I do plan on making a fanfic with him/her as the actually D. of Ages. ^_^ Trust me, it will be awesome! You may just have to wait... erm, a few years, considering how slowly I get chapters out. Don't worry! DIGMON WILL NEVER DIE WITH ME STILL HERE! 


	2. Chapter 2: Getting the Jitters Out

**The Manifest Destiny of the Digital World**

**Cager:  **Yeah, last chapter was boring, now onto the real stuff! ^_^

**Tasslehoff: ** Yay! *jumps up and down with excitement*

**Rastlin:**  *eyes flash* ....

**Angi:**  Erm... yeah, Tas.  It's great isn't it? ^^;;; Anyway, Cager does not own Digimon, the Anime kitties, Rastlin, Gilthanas or Tas.  She does own this plot, the Anti-Clones and... well, that's about all.  (Pathetic, isn't it?)

**Antea:**  Cager doesn't know how to spell fractal code either.  (Is that spelt right?)

**Bakura Kitty:**  Please, read and remew!

**Cager's Wormmon:**  And please excuse Cager's odd Chapter titles.  She knows they're corny but Cager has a very limited imagination and tries to use it all in the major parts of her fanfics.  ^_^ Thanks!

**Chapter 2:  Getting the Jitters Out**

**Azulongmon's Area**

            "Tai... Tai...," muttered a familiar voice trying to rouse the young boy from his sleep.  Even though the source of the voice was near it sounded as if it was far away.  Tai rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face into his soft, fluffy pillow.

            "Come on, Tai!  Wake up!" cried the same voice, large hands rocking him gently.  Tai moaned and opened his eyes.  What he saw snapped him awake in a flash.  He wasn't sleeping on a bed and what he had buried his face in wasn't a pillow.  It was more of a pillar, a pillar of clouds!  Tai yelped and jumped up.  He was surprised to note he didn't sink through the clouds as he stood on them.  Agumon stood next to him apparently he was the one who had aroused him.

            " 'Bout time you woke up!" complained Yolie who sat on the clouds only a few feet away.  Hawkmon sat in her lap, appearing quite content even in these odd surroundings.  Tai looked around at the other faces to see who had also been pulled in his direction.  He was happy to note Sora and Biyomon were there.  There was also Ryo and his Monodramon, Henry and his Terriermon, J.P, Zoe, and, of course, Yolie and Hawkmon.  They were all wide-awake.

            Tai then looked around at his surroundings.  The land around him, if you dare call it land, was made up entirely of clouds.  Giant gears were littered about the land and were rotating constantly.

            "This land...," muttered Tai turning in a complete 360 degree angle.  "It's... so weird."

            "I must agree," said Zoe.  "I've seen some weird things but this takes the cake!"

            "And the whole dinner, too," added J.P.

            "This isn't anything," said Ryo catching their attention.  "Wait until night-time.  Then it will really start to get creepy."  The others shivered at this.

            "Well, I don't like this!" complained Sora standing up.

            "Neither do I, but we have to do it," replied Ryo turning to her with a serious expression.  "As that Patamon on the train said, 'When you are summoned by the Digimon High Lords the only thing you can do is come forth.'  I've learned through experience if the High Lords command you, the best thing you can do is comply with their orders."

            "But did Zhuqiaomon have to be Suzie's Lord?!" demanded Henry with an anger he rarely let get to him.

            "Geez, Henry," mumbled his Digimon.  "Moumantai...."

            "HOW CAN I TAKE IT EASY?!?!" demanded Henry.  "THE MEANEST, GROUCHIEST, GRUMPIEST DIGIMON LORD HAS MY LITTLE SISTER!"

            "Calm down, Henry," whispered Ryo as he put his hands on Henry's shoulders.  Henry was breathing hard but he seemed to be regaining control over himself.

            "Kari...," muttered Tai, looking up into the deep blue emptiness that covered them.

            "I bet the faster we finish this quest, the faster we'll get you back to your sisters," suggested Yolie with a shrug.

            "That's right!" gasped J.P.  "We need to get them little Triangle-thingies to the Temple of Azulongmon!"

            "But we're also going to have to use his influence or he won't get power over the Digidestined of Ages," reminded Sora.  Her face then clouded with confusion.  "Though, I don't know how he expects us to use it."

            "Well, we should all try to use it," stated Tai with his old determination back in his voice.  "Azulongmon is the most awesome of the Digimon High Lords!  If any are to get the power, he should!"

            "I agree, Tai," said Agumon smiling up at him.  "Azulongmon seems to be a really nice guy."

            "Not to mention big and powerful," muttered Hawkmon with a slight grimace.  The others re-guarded him with confusion for a few moments before understanding his words.  They wouldn't want to get on Azulongmon's bad side either.... Did Azulongmon even have a bad side?

            "Hey, Tai, are you going to crush those Triangles or are we going to deliver them?" asked J.P. with a chuckle.  Tai didn't know what he was talking about at first but then noticed the three Triangles of Power were clutched in his hand.  He loosened the death-grip he had been using to hold onto the triangles and gave a low whistle when he noticed they had almost sliced through his thick white gloves.

            Tai looked at the odd blue Triangles curiously but noticed nothing special about them.  They were just... glowing blue Triangles.  Still, he felt something... something that told him they were much more than they seemed.

            "It's no use standing around here," said Yolie as she stood up, dusting off her pants.  "We might as well start heading for the Temple."

            "But where _is_ the Temple?" asked Zoe.  Henry wrenched his shoulders from Ryo's grasp and grabbed his hair in irritation, trying to pull it out.

            "They can't just expect us to know where it is!  How can they just put us out here and tell us to find something when we don't even know the general direction it's in!?!?" yelled Henry through gritted teeth.

            "I'm not so sure about that, Henry," said Ryo in a gentle tone.  "Don't you remember where we found the Digimon Sovereign's Lair?  It was at the highest field in the Digital World.  All we have to do is find our way up to the highest layer of clouds and we'll find it."

            "Um, there's one problem with your theory, Ryo," said Henry softly before bursting out.  "THESE CLOUDS ARE FLATTER THAN RIKA'S SARCASTIC TONE!"

            "Gee, is he always this dramatic?" Biyomon asked Monodramon in a low voice.

            "Only on good days," replied Monodramon with a smirk.

            "Then we'll go out looking for cumulus clouds!" yelled Tai getting fed up with all Henry's yelling.  Everyone turned to Tai who was now very irritated and ready to leave.  "I don't care if we have to just pick a direction and walk over the edge of the world, let's just GO!"

            "Alright then...," muttered J.P. looking up at the sky but he couldn't find the sun to tell him which direction was north.

            "Um, this is a problem," muttered Henry as followed J.P's gaze.  "How are we supposed to travel in one direction without some type of navigation?  We could end up walking in circles!"

            "Maybe the sun's gone because it's night time?" suggested Biyomon.

            "No, if it was night time the sky would be completely-" started Ryo but just then a wave of darkness filled took over and there was no blue sky to be found, "... black."

            "Ooooooh, great!" sighed Terriermon.  "Just what we needed."

            "And, to think," muttered Henry softly, looking over the vast cloudly fields, his eyes full of wistful weariness, "this is only the beginning."

*          *            *

**Baihumon's Area**

            "I wish we knew a little more about this place," muttered Izzy as he crawled his way through the thick foliage of the jungle.  "They could've told us what Digimon we'd expect to meet here."

            "Or at least given us some bug spray," added T.K. as he pushed down some of the larger grasses with a long stick he had found.

            "Amen to that," sighed Kazu.

            "What are you complaining about?" demanded Guardromon sounding a bit irritated.  "I'm carrying you!"

            "Yeah, well, the flat steel is making my butt fall asleep," groaned Kazu putting his arms behind his head.  Guardromon swiftly put an end to Kazu's uncomfort as he dropped the boy to the ground with a thud.

            "How far do you think we'll have to go until we hit a nice camping spot, Takuya?" asked Tommy looking up at the older boy who was sweating as he hacked away at the brush with a small pocket knife.

            "We'll be lucky if we even hit a four-by-four inch clearing considering the density of this jungle," replied Izzy before Takuya could answer.

            "Well, I know one thing is for certain," sighed Matt as he pulled his shirt off over his head, "if we don't find any water to cool us down soon we'll be as dry as the inside of a volcano."

            "I wouldn't mind some food either, for that matter," added Gabumon as he fanned himself.  He was truly twice as hot as Matt considering he had a full coat of fur but he would be much too embarrassed to take it off in front of all these other people, even if there were no girls in their party.

            "Hey, what's wrong, little guy?" asked Tentomon as he flew down to the ground to be closer to the small purple Digimon that reluctantly trudged along slightly behind all the others.  Impmon didn't say anything.

            "Don't mind him, Tentomon," sniffed Kazu with a small glare towards the beaten Rookie.  "That's just Impmon and all he's good for is being annoying and ruining everything."

            "That's not very nice," said T.K. looking down at Impmon with true compassion.  He didn't like to see any Digimon beaten like this.  The worse part was the Impmon didn't even seem to try and nurse his own injuries.  He didn't have a partner to help take care of him here, so T.K. made a decision.  He took out a box of band-aids from his pocket (he had learned they could be quite useful when having an enemy like Ken who wasn't afraid to inflict bodily harm on any of the Digidestined) and began to carefully apply them to the Impmon's injuries.  The Impmon stopped and looked up at him in surprise but then his face turned sad and tears welt up in his eyes.  He quickly pulled himself away from T.K's reach before the third bandage could be used.

            "Hey!  I'm trying to help you!" gasped T.K. as he reached for the Impmon.  "I'm just trying to-"

            "You don' know what you're doin'," muttered the Impmon in a cracking voice, making T.K's outreached hand stop halfway towards the small rookie.  "I've... I've done some terrible things!  Terrible things!  I don' deserve kindness!  I don' deserve it from anyone!"  T.K. was shocked.  This little Digimon had apparently made his own mistakes and he blamed every ounce of them on himself.  But... wasn't that enough?  Why did all the other Tamers (besides Rika, of course) act so mean and cold towards Impmon?  Wasn't it enough pain just putting the blame on himself?

            "Just leave him, T.K," said Kazu in the same loud voice that oddly reminded T.K. of Davis, only more arrogant.  "Impmon doesn't deserve your bandages, or your pity."

            A small tear ran down Impmon's cheek as he sat down on the ground and wrapped his arms around his legs, pulling his knees up to his face to cry on.  T.K. looked up and saw that everyone else was a few paces ahead and staring at him.  For some reason, that angered T.K.  It mostly angered him to see that Izzy, Matt and their Digimon weren't trying to help him either.  '_One thing's for sure,' thought T.K. as he turned back to the Impmon, _'I'm not leaving him alone.'__

            "You can't just sit down out here in this jungle, something might attack you," said T.K.  Impmon made a sound that told T.K. he really didn't care if anything attacked him.  "So,... I'm gonna carry you."

            "WHAT?!?!" demanded Kazu and Guardromon at the same time, their eyes widening in astonishment as they watched T.K. take the little Impmon in his arms.

            "Normally, I would agree with what you're doing, T.K...," said Matt but pausing before he continued, "... but by the way everyone is acting towards him, I don't know if it's the right thing to do."

            "If you only knew the things he's done you wouldn't even consider-" started Kazu but T.K. jumped up in front of him and glared him down.

            "I will _not_ be responsible for another Digimon's death!" snapped T.K. and with that said, he brushed past Kazu and continued into the forest.  Impmon didn't resist T.K's help this time.  He had learned, by Rika's example, that when people were bent on helping you out there was no way to unbend them.  Nothing he could say could change T.K's mind and at the moment, he really didn't care.  He just felt... so... tired....

*          *            *

**Zhuqiaomon's Area**

            _'Great, just what I needed,' thought the Digimon Emperor as he looked around at the burning wasteland around them,__ 'another totally useless and barren Digital area.  Oh, look!  There's something new and exciting!  A volcano!  Wow, I'm soooooo_ impressed.'_  Behind him, he could hear Kari trying her best to calm down the crying Suzie, Rika trying her best to get Jeri to respond to anything, and Davis desperately trying to get the silent Koji to say something, anything!  Ken sighed and rubbed his temples, he just knew all this was going to be one big headache!  __'I was so close to gaining control over the Digital World but that Davis-kid had to come and wreck it all!  He messed around with something around the power source of my base and blew us all the way here... to this nothing world!... You would think for a Digimon smart enough to choose me as their Digidestined, Zhuqiaomon would at least have a homeland that was more pleasurable.'_

            "I'm done with my scouting," announced Renamon as she reappeared at Rika's side.  "It appears this land is mostly made up of volcanoes and wasteland so there is almost no Digimon around at all.  I didn't get very far since I don't think we'll be able to make much progress with all of these new people, Rika."

            "Well, at least we won't run into anything nasty today," sighed Rika as she helped Jeri to her feet.  Jeri leaned against her for a few seconds before straightening up but she still didn't speak.  She really didn't want to move but she knew Rika wouldn't leave without her and to stay would be selfish.  Jeri didn't want to be selfish anymore... she had been acting selfish when Leomon....

            "Where's Hendwy?  I want Hendwy!" cried Suzie as she threw her arms around Lopmon.

            "I know you... miss him, Suzie... but... squeezing the... life out of me... isn't going... to help!" gasped Lopmon trying to struggle out of Suzie's grasp.

            "Don't worry, Suzie," said Kari kneeling down next to the little girl, "I'm sure we'll find your brother after we get the Triangles to the temple.  That doesn't sound very hard, now does it?"  Kari smiled as Suzie slowly began to ease up on her crying, reducing it to a pitiful sob.

            _'Kawi is so nice,' thought Suzie as she relaxed her grip on Lopmon.  __'Her bwover's gone too, but she isn't kwying about it.'_

            "Well," sighed Davis as he scanned the area, "I think we should start on finding the temple as soon as we can.... but did any of you understand that whole 'influence' thing?"

            "It was all Greek to me," said Veemon with a shrug of his shoulders.

            "I think I might know what he meant," said Ken in his usual haughty tone.  Ken crossed his arms in front of his chest and stood tall, the usual smirk on his face was replaced by a serious expression to show he was going to go along with this escapade but he still thought better of himself than any other.  "Azulongmon said that each of us were empowered by a certain Digimon High Lord.  Apparently, our High Lord is Zhuqiaomon.  By what I understand, using a Lord's influence is being able to take that power completely and use it, though,"--Ken frowned--"I'm not necessarily sure how we are to accomplish this."

            "Oooo!  Even the Great Digimon Emperor doesn't even know how to do it," mocked Rika who received a glare from Ken.

            "Come on, guys," said Kari stepping between them.  "The last thing we need you to do is fight each other."

            "Yeah, please, Master," begged Wormmon as he pulled at Ken's pants leg.  "Please, don't fight with her.  She may not be very respectful but I don't think she really meant for you to fight back."

            "When I want you're opinion," growled Ken, kicking Wormmon away, "I'll give it to you!"  But Ken didn't press a fight with Rika.

            "Rika," said Renamon grabbing her Tamer's arm, "there are a few others here who's mouths may not be as bad as Terriermon's but still need to take in the full understanding of tact."  Rika looked over at the Digimon Emperor and sighed.

            "Yeah, I guess you're right," whispered Rika as she went over to help the struggling Wormmon on the ground.  Wormmon seemed surprised to get help from the person who so enjoyed to antagonize his partner, but he accepted her help great-fully.  Ken watched them, keeping his face expressionless for many different reasons.  One of those reasons was because of what Wormmon had said, he didn't really need to get into a fight with Rika for helping his partner.  Another reason was Ken liked to believe he didn't care what happened to Wormmon.  The last reason... Ken couldn't quite define.  Had Ken been a more compassionate person during his reign as the Digimon Emperor, maybe he would have been able to identify that odd emotion.  The emotion the rest of us know as jealousy, the jealousy of seeing his Digimon greatful of another, besides himself.

            Koji... remained silent.  He wasn't really ready for this type of adventure.  None of his friends had been able to come with him into Zhuqiaomon's area, not even wacky J.P, young Tommy, or even the dramatic Zoe.  Koji didn't like to admit it, but he missed them all.  Even his brother wasn't there...  Koji shook his head and looked back up to the ones around him.  _'Well, even if I don't want to, I'll have to trust them all to get back to my real friends.'  He caringed at the thought of having to become friends with Ken, Rika and Davis.  Davis... was actually a lot like Takuya.  But still..._

*          *            *

**Ebonwumon's Area**

            "Hey, guys!  Don't worry!" yelled Takato trying his hardest to calm the other Digidestined down.  "You can breathe!  Don't worry!  Just believe you can BREATHE!"  The other Digidestined and Kenta, along with their Digimon partners, had been struggling in vain to find an air pocket but they were now all close to the end of their air supply.  What had happed was the Digimon sent to Ebonwumon's area hadn't been told that his area was made up only of water so when they were transported there, they were in quite a state of shock.  Only Takato had had experience in this type of situation so it was up to him and him alone to calm everyone and get them to breathe before they died of suffocation!

            "COME ON, GUYS!  JUST TRUST ME AND BREATHE!" yelled Takato louder than he had before.  This raised a gasp from all the Digimon, Digidestined and Kenta but with that gasp came the end of their struggling.  Each of them then began to slowly breathe deeply, as if they thought may taking too quick or short a breath might put an end to such a miracle.

            "You know," muttered Joe after a few minutes of silence, "this is un-settling."

            "I know what you mean," chuckled Takato as he let himself float down to the ocean floor (they called it an ocean because they were unsure how big their area might actually be).  "But after a while you get used to it."

            "Wow, Takato!" cried Guilmon happily as he swam around in circles.  "I've never been able to stay this long under water!  It's fun!"

            "MarineAngemon thinks so, too," said Kenta smiling as he watched his small Digimon play in the water happily with Calamon.

            "Why is it that when we finally get a chance to swim," sighed Mimi, "I don't even have a proper bathing suit to swim in?"

            "Koji..., he's not here," muttered Kouichi sadly as he looked down at his D-Tector.

            "Koji?  You're brother?" asked Cody looking up at the taller boy.  Kouichi looked at Cody with a surprised look on his face since he hadn't really expected anyone of them to listen to him.

            "Well, yeah, but we're more than that," answered Kouichi changing all sad again, "... we're... twins."

            "Twins?  Really!" yelled Mimi smiling.  "I wish _I had a twin!  We could go shopping together and go to all the best parties and just--"_

            "BUT HE'S NOT HERE!" moaned Kouichi letting himself drift to the ocean floor, his face filled with depression.

            "I'm guessing they have some family issues," Takato whispered into Kenta's ear before clearing his throat to get everyone else's attention.  "Okay, guys!  Now that we finally have our bearings, I think we need to start out on looking for that temple."

            "The temple should be easy to find," said Cody with a frown, "don't you think?  I mean, how many temples can we expect to find down here in the ocean?"

            "It might not be so easy, Cody," replied Armadillomon.

            "Why's that?" asked Palmon with her usual innocence.

            "Just think about it," said Joe frowning.  "How many things in the Digital World have been easy to find?"

            "It took me I-don't-know-how-may-weeks to find out the truth when I went to the Digital World," explained Kouichi, who was now lying on his back in the sand, looking up into nothing.

            "I guess... I see your point," muttered Takato looking out to see if he could spot anything that even resembled a temple but all that could be seen for miles was thick, branching coral and several splotches of algae.

            "You know, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought," sighed Kenta and was surprised to hear MarineAngemon giggle at his statement.

            "Not hard!  You follow!" giggled MarineAngemon as he ducked behind some coral reefs.  The others just stood there staring for a few minutes until MarineAngemon's head popped back around the corner of the coral and yelled, "You coming?  I take you!"

            "I guess MarineAngemon knows where to go!" laughed Takato slowly following the small Angel Digimon.

            "What else did you expect?" asked Gomamon with a slight smile.  "He is the Angel of the Sea!"  And with that all the Digidestined, Tamers, Digimon, and even a reluctant Kouichi, followed the small Mega level Digimon through the twisting passages of the coral reef.

*          *            *

**Baihumon's Area**

**3 hours later**

            "We've got it, Izzy!" cried Tentomon as he and Patamon flew down from their lookout over the tops of the tall trees.

            "Yeah!  There's a nice clearing only about sixty meters from here!" chirped Patamon happily landing on T.K's head.

            "Awww!  Man, sixty meters!" groaned Kazu leaning on Guardromon to exaggerate his tiredness.

            "I'm sure we could do it if we worked together," said Gabumon trying to encourage the sweating boys.

            "I sure hope so," gasped Tommy fanning himself with his hat.

            "Yeah, it's getting late," sighed Matt.  "How about you Digimon start clearing a path.  We're tuckered out."

            "Alright, then," said Tentomon flying high.  "SUPER SHOCKER!"

            "BOOM BUBBLE!"

            "BLUE BLASTER!"

            "GUARDIAN BARRIAGE!"

            All four attacks hit the thick grasses but instead of just knocking them back the friction from all the attacks caught the bushes on fire!  Guardromon quickly put it out by stomping all over it.

            "Well, that didn't work quite as well as I planned for it to," muttered Matt with a grimace.

            "I guess we're just going to have to cut through the rest of the way," sighed Tommy.

            "Or you could stay _here_ for dinner!" growled a vicious voice behind them, making them all jump and twirl around to see what had bespoken them.  A giant blue and white beast Digimon thundered its way up to them.  It stood on two broad legs with three large claws to each foot.  Its chest and belly rippled with muscles and its big blue tail easily broke down the tough, thick trees as it rammed into them.  Its arms were also very strong with large claws on each of its ten fingers (five to each hand).  It had a wedge-shaped head with a large, sharp horn on its nose and two horns protruding from the back of its head.

            "It's a Veedramon," gasped Kazu as he received information on it through his D-Power.  "A Mythical Animal Digimon.  Champion Level!  Its attacks are Hammer Punch and V-Nova Blast.  That's one seriously nasty Digimon!"

            "I'll take care of it, Kazu.  I'm Champion, too," said Guardromon as he pushed his Tamer behind him.  He held out his fists and small missiles fired from each wrist.  "GUARDIAN BARRIAGE!"  The Veedramon just cackled and used A V-Nova Blast to incinerate the small missles.

            "Apparently, you're not strong enough to stand much of a chance against him!" yelled Kazu with his eyes filling with fear.

            "Then I guess you'll just have to Digivolve, then," said Matt holding out his Digivice along with Izzy and T.K.

            "Gabumon Digivolve to..."

            "Tentomon Digivolve to..."

            "Patamon Digivolve to..."

            Nothing.

            "Wha... What happened?" gasped T.K. when Patamon flew back to him with a frown on its face.

            "Sorry, but we haven't eaten anything ever since we got here," groaned Patamon in 

defeat.  "We just don't have enough strength to Digivolve."

            "Hahaha!  Take this!" growled the Veedramon beginning to see that it wasn't going to take as long as he thought to get his meal.  "HAMMER PUNCH!" and with all his might, the Veedramon aimed a strong punch at T.K.  Patamon and Impmon quickly rushed and pushed him out of the way and the Veedramon's fist only slammed into the ground.  The Veedramon was about to get up and fire another punch but it seemed he couldn't move!  He had gotten his fist implanted into the ground and was now struggling to free himself.

            "Guys," said Takuya as he took a step towards the giant Digimon, "get to that clearing.  I'll take care of this little bother."

            "No!  You can't!" yelled Matt as he continued to hack away at the grasses.

            "Forget cutting your way through!" yelled Takuya.  "Just run for the clearing!  I'll meet you there!"

            "But Baihumon said we shouldn't use our energy!" cried Tommy grabbing Takuya's hand but the older boy yanked it away and looked Tommy square in the eye.

            "He said not to use it unless it is absolutely necessary and, Tommy, this is absolutely neccessary.  NOW GET GOING!"  None of them could argue with him now so they all began to squirm their way through the dense forestry.  Just as soon as the rest of them were out of the sight, the Veedramon was able to rip his fist from the ground and came charging towards Takuya.  He wasn't about to let _this_ meal get away!

            "EXECUTE.... SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" yelled Takuya as he ran his own data code over his D-Tector's scanner.  "AGUNIMON!"  At the sight of this large Digimon standing before him the giant Veedramon began to falter in step.  Agunimon said nothing and didn't move and inch as the Veedramon came to a complete stop and stared at him.

            "You're... a Digimon?" asked the Veedramon a little unsure of himself but when Agunimon smirked the Veedramon grew angry.  "Well, so what, if you're a Digimon!  I'll still take you out!  HAMMER PUNCH!"  The Veedramon took aim and shot towards Agunimon, only to have Agunimon grab his fist and push him back onto his backside.

            "Is that all you can do?" demanded Agunimon as he ignited his wrist.  "You're barely even worth my time!  FLAME DARTS!"  Agunimon quickly began to shoot the darts into the Veedramon.  The Veedramon was badly burned but that only intensified his anger.  He stood up and lurnged at the unsuspecting Agunimon who had thought his work done.  The Veedramon lowered his head and, with the use of his three horns, was able to lift the Digimon Takuya and hurl him back into the hardwood trees.  Agunimon yelled in pain as the trees snapped and creaked and his back burned with the wood that burrowed deeply into his flesh.

            "Now, to get on to dinner!" growled the Veedramon as he began to make his way towards the direction Takuya's friends had taken.

            _'No!' thought Takuya madly, hissing in pain as he tried to straighten himself up into a standing position.  _'This can't be it!  I can't let him get to my friends!'_  Agunimon watched as the Digimon began to beat away at the tangled grasses that were in his way.  That was when Agunimon realized how the Digimon had been able to crash through the trees up to them so easily!  They had been cutting away at all the brush underfoot so it made any easy passage for any other Digimon to follow.  The Veedramon didn't have much of a hard time getting through the trees because they didn't tangle his feet up like grass did and they were actually kinda easy to push over if you were the right size and built of a Digimon._

            _'That's how he found us,' realized Agunimon as he finally stood up.  __'We just created a path for him to follow.  If we just crawled our way through the brush like the others did when I told them to leave we wouldn't have had to deal with this guy.'  Agunimon grinned.  __'This gives me more time to make up for my mistake!  Now, I have time to retaliate and I know that, this time, I won't let him off so easily!  My friends aren't going to be eaten anytime today!'  Suddenly, Agunimon felt empowered.  He felt as if he had just got done exercising and was now ready for the real workout!  This strange energy flowed through him like electrical energy through a wire.  Had he been near a mirror he would have seen that now he was no longer regular old Agunimon.  He was glowing with the brightest of golden lights, it made the sun look like a dim-glowing light bulb!  He was no longer just Agunimon, he was Baihumon!_

            "Veedramon!" yelled Agunimon, regaining the attention of the blue and white beast.  "Do you think I'm finished with you yet?  If you do, then you're surely mistaken!"  And with that he lurnged towards the Mythical Animal Digimon with all his might.

            "I don't have time for you!" growled the Veedramon opening its mouth as it readied its fire attack.  "V-NOVA--"

            "Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to leave you mouth open?" demanded Agunimon as he forced the Veedramon's jaws shut, trapping all the fire inside its mouth.  The Veedramon's face filled with pain as smoke began to pour from its nostrils.  When the smoke stopped issuing from the Digimon's nose Takuya quickly let go of its mouth.  When it was free of Agunimon's grip, Veedramon howled in pain, its mouth gaping open wide--Just what Takuya was waiting for.  He held out his arms and began to spin around rapidly.

            "PYRO..." snarled Agunimon as the fire blazed around him brightly, "... TORNADO!"  Takuya released all the fire as he landed a powerfully hard kick down the Veedramon's throat.  He flipped back onto the ground and lunged towards the flaming Veedramon.

            "PYRO PUNCH!"  Agunimon took the very last ounce of the brilliant energy he had accumulated and placed it all behind the force of that punch.  He rammed his fist into the Veedramon's gut so hard that the first fire that had settled into the Champion's belly came back up its esophagus and back into its mouth, scorching all of its insides char black!  Agunimon backed away as the digital code of the Veedramon began to circle around its shell.

            "You know," said Agunimon as he pulled out his D-Tector, "I think you're going to have to go back to baby food for a while.  Oh, well!  Time to purify you're dark heart!  FRACTAL CODE... DIGITIZE!"  And with a swipe of his Digivice, Takuya was able to send the hungry Digimon back into its Digi-Egg.  Takuya smiled to himself as he de-Digivolved, never noticing the bright golden light that faded from his skin as he did.

            "Well, that was awesome," muttered Takuya with a smile curling upon his lips as he looked down at the image of Veedramon on his D-Tector's screen.  He took in a deep breath and began to make his way towards the other Digidestined and Tamer.

            Had he not been so proud of himself or glad of his friends' safety, Takuya might have noticed the difference in his step.  The fluidity of his movement, the strange acceleration in his speed, or the acuteness of his senses, but he didn't notice any of these.  He just continued his way into the jungle, thinking of nothing else except getting back to his friends and having a nice dinner.

To be continued....

**Cager: **What happened to Takuya?  Do you know?  Have you guessed?  Is it just Baihumon's influence or is it something else?  Who is the Digidestined of Ages?  Do you know?  I'm using him/her in another fanfic, so I want you to try and guess who it is, by only 1 guess per review!  ^_^  Have fun guessin'!


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